Lesson Plans & Activities
ReVisioning Hazards
This is the first lesson in the Lake County Cascading Hazards unit, but can be used for any introduction to natural hazards curriculum.
In the first lesson of the Lake County Cascading Hazards Unit, students read a poem written by a local fire survivor, and utilize a visualization practice to build personal resilience.
Design a Resilient Future
This is a lesson that can be used to get ideas and prepare for the Community Resilience Expo.
In this lesson, students will work in small groups to develop an idea to increase community resilience, utilizing Design Thinking.
Flood Resilience in Colorado StoryMap
This is a lesson that can be used to get ideas and prepare for the Community Resilience Expo.
Students interact with a flood StoryMap to explore the Colorado Resiliency Framework.
Wildfire Resilience in Colorado StoryMap
This is a lesson that can be used to get ideas and prepare for the Community Resilience Expo.
Students interact with a wildfire StoryMap to explore the Colorado Resiliency Framework.
VR Expedition: MOSAiC Distributed Network
Take a virtual tour of the MOSAiC Distributed Network, Fedorov, in this virtual experience. This is a stand-alone resource that is part of a MOSAiC VR collection
Wildfire Virtual Expo
This lesson provides a virtual alternative to the HEART Force Expo curriculum.
This is a streamlined lesson for students to prepare for a Community Resilience Expo, focusing on wildfire.
Social Vulnerability to Natural Hazards
This is the third of four lessons in the Lake County Cascading Hazards unit. This lesson can also be used in the HEART Force Curriculum.
In the third lesson of the Lake County Cascading Hazards unit, students learn about social factors that might make one group more vulnerable to a hazard than another.
Drought Virtual Expo
This lesson provides a virtual alternative to the HEART Force Expo curriculum.
This is a streamlined lesson for students to prepare for a Community Resilience Expo, focusing on drought.
Flood Virtual Expo
This lesson provides a virtual alternative to the HEART Force Expo curriculum.
This is a streamlined lesson for students to prepare for a Community Resilience Expo, focusing on flood.
Exploring Local Hazard Mitigation Plans
This lesson is part of the Community Resilience Expo, a culminating event for the HEART Force curriculum unit, where students will share what they’ve learned during the hazard lesson and the role-playing game.
In this lesson, students will explore their county Hazard Mitigation Plan to gain understanding about the hazard in their area (flooding, wildfire, or drought), including historic hazards, probability of future occurrences of the hazard, and vulnerability of the area to the hazard.
Envisioning a Resilient Future
We suggest teaching this lesson to introduce the HEART Force Unit.
In this lesson, students create a vision for the future of their community and identify what resources are most important to them as a starting point for resilience planning.
The Vocabulary of Hazards
We suggest teaching this lesson to introduce the unit as it will benefit students in their understanding of natural hazards throughout the entire HEART Force Unit.
This lesson uses a matching game to build students' understanding and familiarity with different terms used in the world of resiliency planning.
High School Drought Unit
This HEART Force curricular unit includes all lessons for the High School Drought curriculum.
The HEART Force curriculum builds an understanding of fire, flood, or drought in the context of place-based community resilience.
High School Flood Unit
This HEART Force curricular unit includes all lessons for the High School Flood curriculum.
The HEART Force curriculum builds an understanding of wildfire, flood, or drought in the context of place-based community resilience.
Middle School Drought Unit
This HEART Force curricular unit includes all lessons for the Middle School Drought curriculum.
The HEART Force curriculum builds an understanding of wildfire, flood, or drought in the context of place-based community resilience.
Middle School Flood Unit
This HEART Force curricular unit includes all lessons for the Middle School Flood curriculum.
The HEART Force curriculum builds an understanding of wildfire, flood, or drought in the context of place-based community resilience.
Colorado Flood (Middle School)
This lesson is best taught at the beginning of a HEART Force unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to floods in Colorado.
Students build an understanding of flooding in Colorado using multiple data sources in a jigsaw format.
Colorado Drought (Middle School)
This lesson is best taught at the beginning of a HEART Force unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to drought in Colorado.
Students build an understanding of drought in Colorado using multiple data sources in a jigsaw activity.
Colorado Drought (High School)
This lesson is best taught at the beginning of a HEART Force unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to drought in Colorado.
Humans have been affected by severe drought throughout history; in this lesson students explore this concept by analyzing environmental data to classify patterns and practice communicating their findings.
Colorado Flood (High School)
This lesson is best taught at the beginning of a HEART Force unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to floods in Colorado.
The way we choose to design our communities has impacted community risk and vulnerability to flooding; in this lesson, students will explore this concept by analyzing environmental data to classify patterns and practice communicating their findings.
High School Wildfire Unit
This HEART Force curricular unit includes all lessons for the High School Wildfire curriculum.
The HEART Force Curriculum builds an understanding of wildfire, flood, or drought in the context of place-based community resilience.
Community Resilience Expo Overview
The Expo is best taught at the end of HEART Force unit, after students are familiar with the hazard.
The Community Resilience Expo is a culminating event for the HEART Force curriculum, where students will develop and present original ideas to increase resilience in their community.
Middle School Wildfire Unit
This HEART Force curricular unit includes all lessons for the Middle School Wildfire curriculum.
The HEART Force curriculum builds an understanding of wildfire, flood, or drought in the context of place-based community resilience.
Colorado Wildfire (Middle School)
This lesson is best used as part of the HEART Force curricular unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to wildfire in Colorado.
Students build an understanding of wildfire in Colorado using multiple data sources in a jigsaw format.
Colorado Wildfire (High School)
This lesson is best used as part of the HEART Force curricular unit, but it can also act as a stand-alone lesson to introduce students to wildfire in Colorado.
Students build an understanding of wildfire in Colorado using multiple data sources in a jigsaw format.
HEART Force Drought Game
This lesson is best used after the Colorado Drought lessons in the HEART Force curricular unit, for students to apply their learning and respond to a hypothetical drought in their own community.
In this interactive game, students work in three "resilience teams" to solve community challenges that arise during the course of an extreme drought event by using available individual and community resources.
HEART Force Flood Response Game
This lesson is best used after the Colorado Flood lessons in the HEART Force curricular unit, for students to apply their learning and respond to a hypothetical flood in their own community.
This interactive game has students work in three “zone response teams” to solve community challenges that arise during the course of an extreme flooding event by using available individual and community resources.
HEART Force Wildfire Resilience Game
This lesson is best used after the wildfire hazard lesson in the HEART Force curricular unit, for students to apply their learning and recover from a hypothetical wildfire in their own community.
In this scenario-based role-play game, students play the role of community members planning for wildfire resilience in their community. After a wildfire occurs, they see how resilience and recovery efforts pan out in their hometown based on their planning efforts.
HEART Force Wildfire Response Game
This lesson is best used after the wildfire hazard lesson in the HEART Force curricular unit, for students to apply their learning and respond to a hypothetical wildfire in their own community.
In this interactive game, students work in three “zone response teams” to solve community challenges that arise during the course of a wildfire event by using available individual and community resources.
HEART Force Curriculum Overview
This unit consists of several lessons and can take anywhere from 1 to 6 weeks to teach, depending on which lesson teacher choose to incorporate.
The HEART Force curriculum builds understanding of wildfire, flood, or drought in the context of place-based community resilience.
